Correspondance Relating to Brigadier-General Ralph Hamer Husey 1915-19
68 Cornwall Gardens
S.W.
15 February 1915
To HM Secretary of State for War
War Office
Whitehall
Sir,
I have the honour to inform you that my son Capt. R.H. Husey, London Rifle Brigade, is, to his great regret, unable to proceed abroad on return to duty at the expiration of his leave tomorrow. I beg to hand you the enclosed certificate from Dr. Herbert Devitt intimating the nature of his illness.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
C. Hubert Husey
9 Cleveland Gardens
Hyde Park
15/2/15
This is to certify that Capt. R.H. Husey, London Rifle Brigade is suffering with Influenza and Laryngeal Catarrh. In my opinion he must stay in bed for a few days.
Herbert P.S. Devitt
68 Cornwall Gardens
S.W.
Saturday 20/2/15
Sir,
I beg to report that my doctor and a throat specialist after an examination today say that in their opinion I shall be fit to return to duty with the Expeditionary Force by Wednesday 24th inst., the course of treatment that I am undergoing finishing on the 23rd. May I have leave therefore to proceed to duty on the 24th by the usual train?
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
Ralph H. Husey
Capt.
L.R.B.
5th Batt. London Regt
13/9/15
Deputy Adjutant General
3rd Echelon
Capt Husey RH
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This officer was my second in command & was wounded at YPRES on May 13 [gun shot wound left knee; evacuated on the St. David from Boulogne to Folkestone on 17/5/15; subsequently treated at Guy’s Hospital]. He informs me he has been passed fit for General Service.
-
I have the honour to request that you take the necessary steps to have him sent out to me.
-
My excuse for this request is that he was invaluable to me before wounded & will be of the greatest value to me in training & reorganising the Battalion.
Arthur Bate
Lt. Col.
Commanding LRB
Junior Carlton Club
14/11/16
Sir,
I arrived on leave from the B.E.F. on Friday the 10th inst. and my leave terminates on Sunday the 19th.
I beg to apply for two days extension of leave on the grounds of having to attend my dentist for the next 3 days, having a bad abscess in the jaw. If necessary I will forward a doctor’s or dentist’s certificate to this effect.
I have also to visit my 3rd line unit on Salisbury Plain and in consequence should be glad of 1 or 2 days extension of leave.
I am aware of the excellent dental treatment available in France, but having been recently engaged in the ’offensive’, my visiting the dental surgeons was out of the question.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
Lieut. Col.
Commanding 1st Battalion London Rifle Brigade
BEF
Hotel Vandyke
Cromwell Road
Queens Gate, SW
19/11/16
Sir,
I beg to enclose Medical Certificate herewith. My leave expires on the 21st inst. but I much regret that at present I do not feel fit enough to return to duty with the B.E.F. for yet another 3 or 4 days.
If my leave could be extended to the 24th I think that I should be quite well by that date.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
Lieut. Col.
Commanding 1st Battalion London Rifle Brigade
BEF
9 Cleveland Gardens
Hyde Park
19/11/16
This is to certify that Lt. Col. R.H. Husey, M.C., 5th Batt London Regt has been suffering with abscess of the jaw. The bad tooth has been removed but the periostitis set up by it is still causing sleeplessness & pain, & in my opinion he will not be fit to return to France for a few more days.
Herbert P.S. Devitt
Hotel Vandyke
Cromwell Road
Queens Gate, SW
22/11/16
Sir,
My extension of leave expires on the 21st inst. and I now beg to report that I am fit again and am reporting to my unit with the B.E.F. on that date.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
Lieut. Col.
Commanding 1st Battalion London Rifle Brigade
BEF
Army Form A. 45A.
Proceedings of a Medical Board assembled by order of G.O.C. London District for the purpose of examining and reporting on the present state of a wound or injury sustained by Lt Colonel R.H. Husey 1/5 London Regt. London Rifle Bde at Ypres, Belgium on the 14 Aug 1917.
The Board find a splinter of shell entered his abdomen just to the left about three inches below the abdomen and lodged. The wound was opened up but the peritoneal cavity was not explored and there were no intraperitoneal symptoms. The foreign body is shown by X-rays to lie in the region of the left clial tossa. The wound which has been sutured was opened up on admission to Lady Ridley’s Hospital [10 Carlton House Terrace] and about 2 ozs pus evacuated. Wound now cleaning well. He will need about 6 weeks hospital observation and treatment.
‘Strowan’
Bridge of Weir
21st January 1919
Officers Casualty Department,
War Office,
London
Sirs,
I have the honour to bring before your notice the following facts concerning a British General Officer who died of wounds in a German Field Ambulance at Le Thour, in the Aisne district, on 29th or 30th May 1918.
Having been wounded and captured on 27th May, I arrived four days later at this Ambulance where I received the following particulars from a German orderly who spoke English. He stated that this General Officer had arrived at the Ambulance on 27th or 28th May, very seriously wounded, and had died there one or two days afterwards without having regained consciousness. He was entirely without papers or any other evidence of his identity excepting a signet ring. The orderly said that this ring and a description of the officer had been sent to England for the purpose of establishing his identity, but I obtained the following particulars from him in case those sent had not reached their destination.
Age 42 or 45
Height 5’9 or 5’10
Blonde hair and moustache
Nose aquiline
Blue eyes
Serpent tattooed inside left forearm
One little finger was missing
An old wound in his intestines (this had opened and was stated to have been the actual cause of death)
A signet ring with a device consisting of a shield with a jack boot, spurred, on top and a scroll underneath with the motto ’CORE IMMOBILE’
He appeared to be well fed
He was buried in Grave No. 169 in the German Military Cemetery at Le Thour; the cross of the grave being inscribed ‘An unknown English General probably from 8th Division’
I have the honour to be,
Sirs,
Your obedient Servant,
Robert B. Haddow
2nd Lt., Hampshire Regiment
2nd Lt. R.B. Haddow
Hampshire Regiment
‘Strowan’
Bridge of Weir
14th February 1919
9/5.London Regt/848(M.S.3.Cas.T.F.).
Sir,
With further reference to your letter dated 21st January, 1919, I am directed by the Military Secretary to inform you that the British General you mention has been identified as Brigadier-General R.H. Husey, 25th Infantry Brigade, and the contents of the letter have been communicated to the Next of Kin.
E.E. Snelling
Lieutenant
for The Military Secretary
‘Translation’
Ernst Schewer, Wiesbaden
40, Scharnhorstsrasse
October 4th 1919
To the Commander of the English Army of Occupation, Cologne
During May of 1918 I was an eye-witness of the death of an English Brigadier General who had been severely wounded and taken prisoner. As he died on the same day as that of his admission to the German field hospital - and his identity had not then been established - I conclude that he was reported as missing.
All the steps that I have taken to let his relatives know of the death of the gallant General have been fruitless.
I should therefore be very grateful to you, Herr Commandant, if you could inform me to whom I should address myself with the object mentioned above.
Yours respectfully,
Ernst Schewer
Ernst Schewer, Wiesbaden 40, Scharhorstsrasse
October 12th 1919
Headquarters
British Military Governor
Occupied German Territory
Cologne
Dear Sir,
I am pleased to have your letter from the 9th inst & beg to inform you in the matter of the English General died in German captivity as follows.
Being sick in Mai 1918 I found myself in a German field hospital at Le Thour in France (country of Reims) where many wounded English soldiers (pretended of the 8th Division) having been taken prisoner in the German attack had been delivered in. Speaking a bit English I was ordered to come to this meeting-place of wounded to help there in nursing and dressing.
At the 29th or 30th of Mai, I’m sorry I forgot the exact date an English officier bearing the signs of General happened to come to this place. According to the tellings of German wounded the General had been taken prisoner on the street Berrn au Bac - Reims, as it shows the sketch below.
He had a serious wound on the head proceeding apparently from a blow with the butt-end. This wound must have caused him such pains as to loose his mind, therefore I was unable to ascertain his personality. Besides he had still other wounds. As particular marks, I can tell you that he was tattood at one arm, besides he bore a gold ring having the inscription ‘Core immobile’ under a shield bearing boot and spur. I was with him until he died and I have impressed his face that I believe to recognise him on a photo.
I should be very glad if these informations were sufficient to establish the General’s identity and his family. Eventually I could serve you still with other particulars.
Thanking you in advance for your trouble in this matter. I am. Sir, respectfully,
Yours,
Ernst Schewer
G.H.Q.
British Army of Rhine
30/10/19
The officer referred to in the attached papers is undoubtedly Brig Gen R.H. Husey DSO MC, who was in Command of 25th Inf Bde 8th Div, & who with his Brigade was holding the front line about Berg-au-Bac on the Aisne. When his front line was broken he, with his Brigade Major, Capt Pascoe of the Rifle Bde, collected the remnants of the Brigade and made a stand outside the Brigade H.Q. dugout and trench. Capt Pascoe was unfortunately killed there leading a counterattack. Gen Husey, finding he was being surrounded, decided to drop back to the Gernicourt position on the Aisne itself. He reported that he was going to do this to Divisional HQ., and this was the last I ever heard of him. He was one of the best Brigadiers I had come across during the war, very gallant, full of energy, and resourceful. His men had the most perfect confidence in him and would do anything for him. His loss was a grievous blow to me, and I missed his help very much when I came to reform the Division after the Aisne retreat and prepare it for the subsequent fighting which faced us.
J.D. Heneker
Maj Gen
Commanding Southern Division
Late Commanding 8th Division
From: The General Officer, Commanding-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine
To: The Secretary, War Office, London SW1
Cologne
19th November 1919
Sir,
I have the honour to submit for your information the attached correspondence relative to the death of an English General of the 8th Division, which took place in German hands about May 1918. It is considered that the information given by HERR ERNST SCHEWER, WEISBADEN is reliable.
I have the honour to be
Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
J. Carruthers, Lt. Col.
A.A.G.
For General, Commanding-in-Chief
British Army of the Rhine
From: The General Officer, Commanding-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine
To: The Secretary, War Office, London SW1
Cologne
25th November 1919
Sir,
With reference to my letter No. A.5752 P.S.1 dated 19th November 1919. I have the honour to report the following further information regarding the death of an English General of the 8th Division which took place in German Hands about May 1918.
The German Civilian Herr SCHEWER, WIESBADEN, states that this General Officer was buried about May 31st, 1918, at LE THOUR.
An inscription was placed upon his grave as follows:
‘Hier ruht ein aubekaunter engl. General (angeblick der 8th Division).’
The latter words were added on the instigation of HERR SCHEWER.
This person also gives the particulars of identity of this deceased General:
‘Hair, light coloured and a bit curly. Height, about M.1.70 to 1.80. Moustache, fair and hanging downwards. A member of one of the fingers had been amputated. On his arm the cloth bore signs of his having been wounded four times. The body had a cicatrised wound proceeding perhaps from an operation on the blind gut.’
I have the honour to be
Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
J. Carruthers, Lt. Col.
A.A.G.
For General, Commanding-in-Chief
British Army of the Rhine
C.H. Husey Esq
68, Cornwall Gardens
S.W.
C.2.Casualties.9/5 Lond.Regt/1417.
3 December 1919.
Sir,
I am directed to forward a copy of a letter which has been received from Major General Heneker enclosing statements made by a German civilian regarding the death of Brigadier General R.H. Husey, D.S.O., M.C., 5th Battalion, London Regiment.
Further evidence has been received from Herr Schewer to the effect that Brigadier General Husey was buried at Le Thour. An inscription was placed upon his grave as follows:
‘Hier ruht ein aubekaunter engl. General (angeblick der 8th Division).’
The latter words were added on the instigation of Herr Schewer. He adds that the hair of the deceased General was light coloured and a bit curly; height about M.1.70 to 1.80; moustache fair and hanging downwards, a member of one f his fingers had been amputated and his tunic had four wound distinctions.
I am again to express the sympathy of the Army Council with you in your bereavement, and to add that if any further information is received, it will be communicated to you.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
B. Grindle